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PUBLISHES FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT
COVERS THE MORNING FIELD ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA
' -' - ; ' " ASTORIA. OREGON. WEDNESDAY. npreisoro
-T 1.. in ' - - - " vhVbifltfMI VtJ litUO
I -
FI III Hill) SOME Til
dub mm
But Audience are Ignor
ant Until Lot Out
DAMAGE IS $50,000
Flames Start From an Electric
Sign In Front of the
Building
POLICE PREVENT A PANIC
Soma Tim After th Crowd Lmvm
Building Gallery Fall and a Mo.
merit Utet 35 Ft of Broadway
NEW YORK. Dec 22.-A fir
broke out in the Herald Square Thea
tre tonight tea minute before the
doie ol the performance, Before it
wn brought under control It had done
tiamtg to the extent of $50,000. driv
Inf the actor to the ttreett in their
leant costume and caused a great
commotion on Broadway, There wa
no panic and the audience remained
in Ignorance of the fire until it had
passed into the street. Fire caught
g, from an electric sign on the front of
the building and spread to executive
offices which are on the second gal
lery of the auditorium. When the cur
tain was lowered upon the final en
semble, the orchestra continued to
play while the police at the exits
quieted and reassured those who din-
covered the smoke in the arallerv.
Some time "after the fire was practi
cally out the theatre gallery fell and
. a moment later 35 feet of the roof
on the Broadway end of the building
came down.
AS
CITY EMPLOYEES.
CHICAGO, Dec. 22.Mav
h sent a message to the city council
recommending reform in the attend.
ance of city employes at their respec
tive olhce. "When I want to find a
man anywhere about ordinary
hours," he said, "the chances are he
is out. If I can't get him what chance
has the citizen who tomes her in Ai
business got? The hall should close.
promptly t noon as any business
house does, and the men all be back
at 1 o'clock. Then we would know
what to expect."
FRA ELBERTUS HURT
NEW YORK, Dec. 22. A special
to the Times from Buffalo says that a
falling tree seriously injured Elbert
Hubbard, the author and lectrr i-
the woods near hi colony at East
mirora, . jr., yesterday. While m
swing workmen he miscalculate!
the distance the tree would fell aril
was cruthrd.
CEI FLASHLIGHT
OF GRAFT
SELF-CONFESSED ROBBER
Ha Hard Tim In Proving Himself
One of the Gang.
HIS TRIP TO IRELAND.
C1HCACO, Dec, 22.-The Tribune
today in a news article says Pat
O'Malley who made a bet of $1000
wun )m o Leary, stockyard gambler,
mat ne could reach his home in Ire
land from Chicago in a week has won
hi wager.
POISON ANYWAY!
COLLINS IS PARDONED
BY
MANILA. Dec 22. Seventeen int.
iers of the Eighteenth Infantrv. its.
tioned at Camp Keithlcy, Mindanao,
are still ill as the result of drinking
seme of the poisonous alcohol that
killed ten of their comrades on De
cember IS. The alcohol was procured
from the post exchange by some cf
the soldiers who pretended that they
wanted it for the lamps with which
they hunted deer at night, Owing
to the restoration of ocaccfu! eonrfi.
tions in the neighborhood after long
disturbances hunting leaves have been
granted frequently of late and the re
quest was readily granted. A secret
FREE ON CHRISTMAS DAY "IT' V, made ! dilu,e ,he '
" " wur jarge numner of
the soldiers drank the poisonous 1.'
quor with terrible results.
; PORTLAND, Dec. 22.-A strange
sight in the detecting of a criminal
.tonight was the effort of William
Burke, self-confessed member of the
, trio which held up the O. R, & N.
train Thursday last, to convince the
engineer and fireman of the locomo
; tive, that he was one of the robbers.
After hours of questioning and recall
ing of incidents by Burke, the train
men finally were convinced and de
clared that Burke and Jack Hayes are
two of the gang, at the same time ad
mitting that they were mistaken 2i
their belief that the men held by the
police are the robbers.
rt! m s s- J - ' Another stran8e thinK s that Van-
inis Piece ef Evidence Said to dk.f, the tramp who was on th-
train with the robbers and vhn A.
! Have Pictures of Council-
men Getting Money
BY DECOY PROMOTERS
CHO JIBED TO
II IBS U
Iff. PLOT-
KANGAROO MEAT.
NEW YORK, Dec 22.-Kan.nw
meat is to be. served in New York
hotels, a local dealer having arranged
ror tne importation of 200 of the ani
mals for use as food. The tail ia con
sidered the great delicacy, but almot
every cut is said to be good eatin
6y those who have 6amoled it. Th
dealer who hopes to meet with sue
rf JIM
tv.it w
be the Feature of Today's
Hearing
MAN WHO WAS SERVING LIFE
FOR THE MURDER OF HIS
FATHER.
dared his ability to identify all of
them was unable to until Burke had
recalled certain events to his memorv
. . ' and it was oly after several circum-
n acknowledged Burke to be one of
. . the robbers. The police are still con-
Smtutkm Sprunc When Detective .J ? P" are the
r. ... . , , "S"' men ana are malting as great
Touch Flash Just as the Councilroen rr. t . .
, , . : . . . V"-"JW n eitort to have their captures nd ct-
" " ' ed br the o-rand nrv . t .u..:a.
j ' - iiui lit a
cess in his new venture says he thinks
New Yorkers will soon take to kanga
roo meat in the same way that Euro
peans like American specialties such
as wild turkey and quail.
Said to
' to Assassbais
HIS POWER IS C
ft' .. .
eye witless to a:;:;is
MEDT TESTIFIES
ey From Bogus Promoter.
PITTSBURG, Dec. 22.-A flash.
oitice to have Burke and Hayes In'
dieted. Hayes, the man whom Burke
accuses of being one of the iranir re
frains from commenting on the case.
mi only reference to the subject was
Governor Believe Collin ia Innocent
Wis Convicted on the Testimony
of Thm Negro, All Evidence B
tag Circumstantial
RACE WITH DEATH.
CHICAGO, Dec 22.-Death was
victor In a race of Miss Ada Grantham
to the bedside of her weethear,
Emil J. Hilty, who wa ill with ty
phoid fever at his home in Birming
ham, Ala. An hour before she reach
ed that city he died. Mis Grantham
.. is said to be prostrated and her nr.
ents have hastened south to be with
her.
NO DRUNK NEED APPLY.
CHICAGO, Dec. 22.-The Chicago
& Milwaukee Electric Railroad will
hereafter refuse to carry Intoxicated
persons on its road. A the walking
TOPEKA, Dec. 22-Covernor Hoch
today pardoned John Collins, serving
a life sentence in the Kansas peniten
tiary for the murder of his father, a
well-to-do real estate man of this city
ten years go. Collin will be free 6n
Christmas day. Governor believes
Collins is Innocent. Collins was con.
victed on the testimony of three ne
groes, an of it being circumstantial.
At the time the date set up the plea
that Collins wa in love with Miss
Florence Babcock, a wealthy young
society woman of Kansas Citv and
wa assigned at the motive a desire
to get his father't insurance money In
order to tecure funds to marrv her.
One of the negroes has since written
a book in which he confessed that his
testimony wat a part of the plan, of
enemies of Collin to ruin him. The
elder Collin wa found dead one
morning after t visit to. his ton at
Lawrence.
AN EXACTING RUMOR.
Isauranc of 100 Eubpoenacs to Em-
ploye Arouse Suspicion.
CHICAGO, Dec 22.-The Issuance
of 100 subpoenas, 25 of which were
served on employes in the traffic de
partment of Nelson Morris & Com
pany summoning them to appear be
fore the grand jury, started a report
toda ythat the mquistorial bodv woult
investigate charges of rebating among
me Dig packing firms at the stock
yards.
District Attorney Sima refused to
deny or confirm the report. Sims re
turned yesterday from a flvinir visit
to Washington, where he was in con
ference with B. F. Kellogg and At
'torney General Bonaparte.
The conference is supposed to he
in connection with the move.
IILa, i. i
Sin jmuiograpn 01 councnmen in the to say after reading a news article
act of receiving money from a coy "hich said he was an ex-convict from
"Promoter" it it said to be one of Folson!i, was to say that the newspaper
the strongest feature of evidence to got ,ne wron Pn'tentiary.
oe presented tomorrow when seven
members of the council and two for-
WILLIAM KNAPP IS GIVEN
MOST VIGOROUS CROSS
EXAMINATION
THE DEFENSE IS V.CnitlED
Mr. Axmia Testifies That Thornton
Ham Turned Her Back With Re-
A!rcady the f.'cvv A
Shews Intention ta SeWa
Disputes
6C.VEZ HEASS CF THE FLCT
Attempt to Assassinate Gomea and
Several Minister Wa Decided Far
December 18 Castro Apparency
Unaware of His Downfall.
timi...,- i.-" . "'w. u.ii-A mail car
' "V "ar" ot orlD- loaded with Christmas packages burn
erv as corrunt inliV taiinn . . . ... F lMiic' unrn
ille..l v. J,;.:" J .1" .M'.hven,aUc,erk barely escaped
were made today and it is said noe!jurnplnK t0
are hkcly to be until the hearing to-. coIIsiion betwtJthe g "nd h
thTlre o S ? C, TKT Chicag0 & Alt0" " Sgt
think are possibly implicated are be- Many of the passengers were badly
ins Kent under mirvnll anak A fliati . .
- ' "ao" snaken up
light is said also to show the detective
which worked up the case. This man j
is reported to have posed as a member
CHRISTMAS GIFTS BURN. 'Plver When She Ran Aero. Float 1 7! m ,r"
" to Her Injured Husband. . , posaest.on
HOLT GUILTY.
.1
co:.::.:ittee coopletes
TARIFF MI
COMMENCE WORK OF REVIS
ING PRESENT LAW INTO
A BILL.
between town is not particularly
good a decided diminution In that
class j expected. The reason issitrn.
ed is that some of the car have no
smoking room and it Is not desired SPECIAL SESSION IN KiPfJH
. HI M . I " '"""VII
partment with women and children.
of a firm anxious t.o sell a pavement
to the city. With other detectives in j SEATTLE, Dec. 22,-Afer dcliber
uic room ne is sam to nave induced "ating 24 hours the jury tonight
i cuunciiman to ich ot me negotia- Drought in a verdict in the federal
tions to secure the passage of this J court finding James H. Holt guilty of
icgisiauon ana names ot other mem- murder of Bandman Henry E. John
un x-uv wtn iv snare uie oriDe ana son at fort Worden last fa
that they were tired of promises and j - .
wanted some real money. Just as the
detective was peeling of $100 and $300
in bills from a big roll, the flash was
touched off. It is stated the council
man broke down and wept It is prac
tically admitted that a number of
"Decoy promoters" were introduced
to trap the councilmen and that many
temptations have been offered the
members during the last six months.
HER NIGHT RIDER
OIES CfilSSiO:!
ANOTHER POUCH STOLEN.
i Missouri Town Growing Famous For
Postal Outrage.
SHREWD PORTLAND
GRAFTER CAUGHT
German Poses as an Employment Agent Secures
Honey From Women But Gets Ho Jobs
Carnegie' Testimony Does Not Prove
aausiactory to the Committee n.l
i Utterly Useless a Far Desired
Information is Concerned.
PORTLAND, Dec. 22. Benjamin
Franklin, a German who has been
operating an employment agency and
who claims he was at one time chef
ifor the late Grover Cleveland, was
jarrestcd here today, charged with ob
itaining money under false pretenses.
i ne uermiin accusers, wno are
mostly women, declare that they de
posited fees with the agent ranging
from $3 to $9 for which they were to
:be (furnished positions. They state
that -the German furnished none of
them v?ith working places. Today an
irate crowd of women who believe
they have been defrauded by the
agent went to the German's offices
demanding their money back. The
German finally broke away from the
women and getting his family rode in
a car to the depot. A small mob fol
lowed him thither, arriving before
the train pulled out. The German
eluded his mirsucrs a icrnnA t;m k.
going to aliotel where he registered
as J. A, Wells and wife of New York,
Here he was discovered by the oo-
lice and arrested. German ad IlliftC.t
to the police that he had servd a
term at San Quentin for bigamy.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22. -The
House on ways and means committee
completed today Its hearings on the
proposed revision of the tariff and
sub-committees consisting of Repub
lican members of full committees be
gan work of revising present law into
a tariff bill. This bill is to be submit
ted to congress at a special session,
which it is understood Judge Taft
will call next March. In order to
complete its work in time, the sub
committee will hold daily meetings
behind closed doors until the bill has
been formed. Carnegie's testimony
yesterday did not prove satisfactory
to the committee. "One prominent
Republican member said today that
his testimony was practically nil as
far as information of use to the com
mittee is concerned.
UNION CITY. Tenn.. Dec 22.-
Whcn Mrs. Anna Jackson, one of the
state' witnesses this afternoon in the
night riders' trials was excused from
the stand she turned to Judge Jones
and said: "I will not leave the court
room without armed protection. I
know these men."
Mrs. Jackson told a vivid storv of
several visits of the night riders cor
roborating Fred Fehringer's testi
mony on many details as did other
witnesses, and identified by name at
least 27 members of the band. She
was followed on the stand by her
daughter, Miss Dora Jackson. 18
years old who corroborated her moth
er, the last witness of the day was
Will Russell, another alleged night
rider, who has turned State's evidence.
Russell came to Union City after the
Rankin killing and made a confession.
He was trembling with fear and couM
hardly raise his voice above a whisper.
Russell is under constant guard, but
he believes that he will be killed in
spite of these precautions. Russell's
story was practically the same as that
told by Fehringer.
WILL RUSSELL TURNS STATE'S
EVIDENCE, CORROBORATES
FEHRINGER'S TESTIMONY
m, JACKSON IS EXCUSED
Russell is Under Constant Guard But
Believes That ho Will be Killed
by Band in Spite of Precau
tions.
FLUSHING, N. Y, Dec. 22.-Tes-
timony of a character designed to cor
roborate the stories of the killing ot
W. E. Annis which have been told
during Thornton Haines trial, was
developed today from several of th
prosecutions' witnesses..
William Knapp, member of the Bav
Side Yacht Club, was given a vigor
ous cross-examination after testify
ing that while sailinz toward the dnrk
after an impromptu boat race he heard
the shooting and saw Mrs. Annis run
ning down the runway. "I saw her
move across the float." continual
Knapp. "Then she was stopped and
she went back up the runway again.
Some one took her by the arm at the
runway. I could not see who stopped
her because she was hidden by the
jih of Annis' boat"
Mrs. Annis testified yesterday that
Thornton turned her back with a re
volver when she ran across the float !
toward her injured husband. John C
Stephens, a fellow club member of
Annis, testified that he heard the de
fendant say after the shootine: "I
came to protect my brother and would
have shot anybody that interfered."
Both Knapp and Stephens asserted
that there was noticeable interval be
tween the first and subsequent shots
fired by Captain Hains at Annis.
CARACAS, Via Willemstad. Bee
22. The end of the rule in Venezuela
of Cipriano Castro has come, the dic
tator who has governed the
I . -
j with a rod of iron ever since he took
1899 is now
openly charged with conspiracy to en-
campass the assassination of the man
whom he left at the head of the re
public when he sailed way on Novem
ber 23 for La Guaira, nominally to se
cure skilled medical aid in Berlin for
a malady of long standing and is to
day thoroughly discredited.
The Bank of Venezuela has cabled
its correspondents at Berlin and Paris
cancelling the unlimited letters of
credit given to Castro and no one in
Caracas believes that he will ever
dare to return to the capital.
At a conference yesterday between
Gomez and the German minister who
has been in charge of the interests of
Holland since the Dutch minister left
last summer, it was agreed to suspend
operations of the decree issued by
Castro prohibiting the trans-shipment
of goods destined for Venezuela.
Pending the signing of a treaty the
Dutch warships will be withdrawn.
The attempt to assassinate Gomez
and several ministers was decided on
Friday night December 18th. Gomez
heard of the plot and personally ar
rested the conspirators in the nres-
ence of their armed friends. The men
concerned in the conspiracy were
Castro's closest friends and known-
adherents. A prominent lawyer has
filed accusation in the high court
charging Castro with complicity in a
plot to assassinate Gomez and pro
posing the impeachment of Castro.
(Continued on page 6)
FISHER SHOOTING
BY EYE WITNESS.
1 " KANSAS CITY, Dec. 22.-A mail
pouch containing 60 pounds of regis
tered Christmas packages consigned
to Eastern points was stolen from the
baggage room of 22nd and Grand
avenue belt line today. Although the
postofiTce officials refuse to make a
statement it is believed the contents
are very valuable. There is no money
in it. - After the pouch had been
placed in the baggageroom, the bag
gage master stepped out to check a
trunk. When he returned the pouch
was gone. A negro loitering in the
vicinity is thought to have secured the
pouch.
f.Iiss Vera Ourkhart Formerly Fisher's Stenograph'!
Gives Testimony of Ouch importance
Read the Morning Astorian's Christ
mas advertisements for bargains.
PORTLAND," Dec. 22.-That Ralph
B. Fisher, prosecutor of the State Bar
Association, who was killed bv I. A.
Finch, the disbarred lawyer, was shot
from behind and without warninsr:
that he- fell with his feet under his
desk and his overturned chair beside
him; that the bullet which caused
death ranged downward and that
there were no sounds of a quarrel
before the shooting nor signs of a
physical contest evident, was the bur
den of the testimony presented by the
State against Finch, whose trial is
now in progress. The purpose of this
evidence was introduced by the prose
cution with the apparent purpose of
combatting the contention made bv
Finch's counsel in their opening state
ment that Finch was shot in ,-ir
defense during an altercation and af
ter he had been hit over the head wirh
a notaries seal. Miss Vera Burkhart,
fishers stenographer, the only eve
witness otthe tragedy, told a simple,
straightforward story which withstood
all the attacks of Finch's lawyers. It
was she who testified as to s..,i.
denness of the shootimr. 1 ;,, 1, i.
practically directing his own ! .
During the direct examine
takes copious notes, and he
many if not most" of the n-
asked during the cross e..i,v.'
i